Beautiful Design by Jason Bare

Reviewed by Lisa J Lickel

"...recommended
to those who like softer background inspirational worship music."

Jason Bare is the worship leader at Kingdom Life Ministries
in Virginia, and, according to his biography, a sought-after clinician for
various worship conferences including the annual Throne Zone conferences.

Bare's latest release, Beautiful Design, showcases a special song he'd written
with his cousin Amanda, who passed away at a young age. "The Story of
Grace," the fifth cut, is "a beacon of hope," Bare says. The
background is a kind of techno beat with words of pleading and full of angst
and recognition for the acceptance of God's grace. The song would make a
good statement of faith.

The third song, "Touch the Sky," employs
an engaging clapping beat that begs the listener to join.

The eighth track, Freely, is a
more up-tempo syncopated song and proclaims "desperately
longing, I'm reckless for you… I'm reaching out to you."

"Walk
Before Me" is a sing-along song with a great repetitive
and foot-tapping beat. The final cut, "Over the Edge", is one of the strongest
songs both vocally and message-wise. "Take me over the edge to a new
place…to the unknown," Bare sings.

A bonus
song, "For the First Time," is
a Christmas song, which made Number 1 on Inspirational
charts over the holiday season,
and well-deserving of the number.

My favorite tune is the first
one, "You Found Me." True to me – He
found me, and I'll never be the same. He changed my world.

Each of
the songs on the CD are faith messages and not particularly based on Scriptures.
Instead, Bare
uses his music as a "need to wail," as
he writes in his Web site biography. His silky tenor occasionally gets lost
in the liberal drum and guitar accompaniments. I listened to the CD several
times. I would buy it, and recommend it to friends who like softer background
inspirational worship music.

Lisa
Lickel lives in Wisconsin with her high school teacher husband in a 150-year-old
Great Lakes ship captain's house. She is active in more than one historical society,
belongs to writing and reading clubs and is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin,
the magazine of Wisconsin Regional Writers. A graduate of the Christian Writer's
Guild, she has written newspaper features and magazine articles, radio theater,
and authored several inspirational novels. Find her online at http://lisalickel.com,
http://wisconsinauthorreview.blogspot.com, http://reflectionsinhindsight.wordpress.com,
and Facebook.